


swapsies

by kiyala



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fans & Fandom, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-03
Updated: 2014-11-03
Packaged: 2018-02-23 23:44:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2560160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grantaire is a popular artist in the same fandom where Enjolras is a popular fanfiction author. Their paths have crossed several times before, they just haven't realised it yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	swapsies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [besanii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/besanii/gifts).



> Birthday fic for [besanii](http://besanii.tumblr.com/)!!
> 
> Now with a [chinese translation](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3165941) by [KaterinaJA](http://archiveofourown.org/users/KaterinaJA/pseuds/KaterinaJA)!

Grantaire is going to stop doing this to himself.

He's going to stop going to bed somewhere around four o'clock in the morning only to drag himself back out of it a handful of hours later so he can attend his nine o'clock lectures. He's going to stop sitting in the back of the lecture theatre with his can of energy drink and large cup of coffee sitting over his closed notebook as he falls asleep before he can drink either of them. He's going to stop killing himself over this piece of fanart and get a proper night's sleep, for once in the past two months, and maybe focus on passing university.

Maybe.

Tomorrow.

It's not that he doesn't _want_ to go at least one day without feeling like a zombie, it's just that he's doing a fandom exchange. Because out of some stroke of luck, **red-flagged** decided to send _him_ a message, asking if he'd be interested in drawing fanart for a prompt and receiving a fic in return. 

Grantaire is still half-convinced he's dreaming, because there's no way the most popular author in his fandom has not only noticed him, but asked to do an exchange with him. Except he doesn't usually feel half this tired when he's dreaming, so he supposes it's real, or he's going to treat it like reality until otherwise proven wrong and—

Anyway. 

The biggest author in the fandom wants art. From him. So Grantaire is losing sleep to make sure that it's absolutely _perfect_ , because he can't stand the thought of sending him anything less. 

Which brings him back to being a sleep-deprived mess in class. 

Their philosophy lecturer has long since given up on him, which is nice in its own depressing little way. Grantaire dozes, barely listening to the blond guy who always sits in the middle of the room and _always_ has an opinion. He's intelligent, which Grantaire is certain he'd appreciate at any other time of the day. It's just that it's nine o'clock in the morning and who the hell is _awake_ that early in the morning anyway, let alone prepared to give the entire lecture theatre a ten-minute long serving of their opinion? Not Grantaire, which is the main reason he just lets himself fall asleep instead of speaking up about the holes in the guy's argument. 

"…Thank you, Enjolras," their lecturer sighs, when the guy's finished. He sounds just as tired as the rest of the class and Grantaire likes him, in the weird way that he decides to not-hate people in positions of authority, because he remembers their first lecture, where the poor man made it very clear that the early lectures were _not_ his choice, and he did everything he could to try and move it. He was happy enough for them to show up in their pyjamas—which nobody has done yet, but Grantaire is tempted to try, especially if his nights continue the way they have been. 

Enjolras sits back down and Grantaire cracks an eye open to watch him for a moment. He's probably decided that sitting right in the middle of the theatre gives him the best acoustics and he definitely uses it his advantage. Enjolras has the kind of voice that Grantaire would be more than happy to listen to when properly awake, the kind of determination that could probably rouse an army if he wanted to. 

His mind drifts, going back to the art he's working on. One of the main characters that he likes is loud and determined too, and **red-flagged** does an amazing job of fleshing out his arguments. Grantaire supposes he's lucky the character looks nothing like Enjolras, because he can just imagine illustrating a scene in one of his favourite fics, where the character gives his army a rousing speech, giving him sharp blue eyes and long, blond hair. 

No, luckily for him, the character in question is stocky, with short hair and grey eyes, absolutely nothing like Enjolras at all. It's dangerous basing his art on people he's seen in real life - he still remembers meeting Éponine that way, back before he knew that she was also **girl-with-thorns** , and had drawn a background character based on what he'd seen of her behind the counter of his favourite café. She'd sent him an incredulous message, resulting in them meeting face to face. They're friends now, which is good, but Grantaire doubts that he'd be just as lucky the second time around. 

By the time his lecture is over, his coffee's gone cold and he sighs heavily, gathering his belongings and shoving them into his bag. He's glad that he never opened his can of energy drink, so it can sit in his bag for later. He throws his coffee into the bin on his way out and trudges to the café to buy another. 

He has an hour-long break before his next class, which is definitely not enough time to go back to bed if he wants to get out of it again. Éponine gives him a long-suffering look when she sees him back at the counter.

"Let me guess, your coffee went cold." She's already making his usual order, reaching for another large cup as he counts out his change. "How much sleep did you get last night?" 

"More than three," he replies, around a yawn that he barely manages to cover with his hand. His eyes are watering and he wipes them on his sleeve. "That's an improvement on most days, right?"

Éponine sighs at him. "It shouldn't be. Don't tell me you were working on your fanart for Red again."

"Okay," Grantaire shrugs. "I won't."

She sighs at him again. " _Grantaire_."

"It needs to be perfect," he tells her. "And the deadline we set for ourselves is _tonight_."

"It's _going_ to be perfect," she tells him. "Red's going to love it, okay? Everyone's going to love it and alternatively wish the two of you would notice _them_ or just wish the two of you would start dating already."

Grantaire shakes his head. "Don't."

He and Red have been following each other for months now, and while Red is usually quiet in fandom unless he's posting something, he and Grantaire get along well. They've sent messages to each other, they've reblogged each other's posts, and the rest of fandom seems to have the completely wrong idea. It might be a nice boost to his ego that so many people think that Red would be interested in someone like _him_ , but it's mostly just embarrassing to have to answer anonymous questions, reassuring people that there really isn't anything going on between the two of them. 

For fuck's sake, he doesn't even know the guy's actual name, or anything beyond the fact that they live in the same country. It's _really_ embarrassing. 

Éponine gives him his coffee and asks him to attempt at least six hours of sleep tonight. He likes the fact that she knows him well enough to start with baby steps.

He goes to the library, determined to spend the rest of his hour giving his art the final touches it needs before he's happy with it. He recognises a few people from his lecture already there—Enjolras is sitting at a table with a stack of books around him that he hasn't opened, typing furiously away on his laptop. He's probably working on the assignment that isn't even due for another two weeks. 

His favourite table in the corner is taken, so he settles for one nearby. It isn't as hidden away as he'd like and people might be able to see his screen, but he doesn't care too much about that. He's never really had a reputation for being dedicated to his uni work anyway. 

He takes his laptop and tablet out, connecting them and sipping from his coffee as he waits for his art file to load. He's more or less happy with the picture, which is amazingly rare for him considering how long he's spent on it, but that might have something to do with the fact that it isn't for _him_. It's for Red and—well, fandom might be wrong when they assume that he and Red are dating. Thing is, Grantaire kind of wishes they were right.

But that's for Grantaire to keep to himself, which he's been doing an amazing job of so far. No need for that to change any time soon. Or ever.

He zooms in on particular parts of the canvas, adding details and highlights, before zooming back out. He chews on his lip in thought, and he's about to zoom in again to make a correction when he hears a book drop to the floor.

He turns around in the direction of the noise, to find Enjolras staring at him with wide eyes. 

"Uh…" Grantaire says, because Enjolras isn't doing anything about the book that's lying on the floor. He isn't doing very much of anything but staring, and it's a little disconcerting.

Except then Enjolras breathes, " _R_." 

And Grantaire frowns, because he only ever uses that nickname online and—

"R," Enjolras says again. "You're R. I know that art style."

He's shushed by another student sitting near them and shuts his mouth, but the look in his eyes says that he's not done with this conversation.

Grantaire does the exact thing that he's always thought he'd do if he meets a fandom person in real life. He saves his file, shuts his laptop, shoves it into his bag and legs it. 

"Wait!" Enjolras hisses after him, and Grantaire does the exact opposite. He heads for the stairs because he doesn't want to wait for the elevator and he's about to run down them when he realises that Enjolras has his bag slung over his shoulder and is following him.

The thought of Enjolras being into fandom is— _weird_. How does the guy even have _time_ for fandom, when he's so busy being angry at everything, when he's busy maintaining top grades? It's unfair.

"Grantaire, wait," Enjolras says again. "Please. It's me."

"Uh…" Grantaire has to stop then and turn around so he can give Enjolras an incredulous look. "Yeah. I can see that."

"No, I mean. _Me_." Enjolras lowers his voice and adds, "…Red."

Grantaire stares some more. 

"You _are_ **grapesaplenty** , right?" Enjolras asks, sounding a little uncertain this time. "I mean, the art you were working on looked like his style—I'm sorry, if you're not and this is a big, awkward mistake, I'll just let you go and—"

"You're **red-flagged** ," Grantaire says, because there's no way of avoiding the truth now. " _You're_ the best writer on the entire internet."

Enjolras's face goes pink. "Yeah, well you're my favourite artist in the world."

"Shit." Grantaire covers his mouth with his hand. He's bad at taking compliments when they're just words online. He doesn't know how to deal with them in person. 

"Was that the art for our exchange that I saw you working on?" Enjolras asks, biting his lip with a small grin. "I only saw it for a moment, but it looks good. I'm looking forward to seeing it when you post it."

"Um." Grantaire has no idea what to say. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Can we… I don't know. Do you want to hang out?" Enjolras attempts a smile, but he looks too nervous. "I mean, I know this is weird. I feel like I know you but I also feel like I don't. We could get coffee?"

Grantaire looks down at his hands, belatedly realising that he left his coffee behind at his desk. "Oh, fuck."

"I'll pay," Enjolras says hurriedly. "For making you run off and leave your coffee behind. I'm sorry about that, I just saw your art and knew it was you and I had to."

"Sure," Grantaire shrugs. "Um, anywhere except for the café near the Arts block. I've been there twice already."

Enjolras nods, and leads the way out of the library and to a small café, tucked between two buildings, just near the edge of campus. They don't speak again until they're sitting beside each other on one of the stone benches outside.

"I never would have picked you for R," Enjolras admits.

"Fair enough. I never thought you'd be Red."

"You're always asleep in our morning lectures. Is that because you're staying up drawing?"

Grantaire nods. "Yep. One day, I'll make good life choices. Not today."

Enjolras snorts quietly. "I wish I could stay up and write, but my roommate doesn't let me. Doesn't help that he's my best friend, or that he has the most intimidating glare in the world… or that he keeps threatening to stop beta-reading my fics."

"No way." Grantaire laughs, shaking his head. "That's amazing. Probably healthier for you too."

"I wish I was as productive as you, though. You're always putting new art out."

"No, trust me. Sleep is good. I wish I slept more."

They lapse into a silence that almost feels comfortable as they turn their attention to their drinks. It's Enjolras who breaks it first, clearing his throat quietly.

"I was going to save this for online, but it feels weird not to say it now that we're sitting right next to each other." Enjolras keeps his gaze fixed on his coffee cup for a moment before he takes a deep breath and looks up. "I want to date you. I mean. I want to date _R_ , and I would have been happy with Skype and just… dating you online. But you're here and I'm here and. I want to date you, R."

"You want to date R," Grantaire says slowly.

" _And_ Grantaire," Enjolras replies, clearly understanding where Grantaire is going with this. "I want to date _you_." 

"You've met me in real life," Grantaire frowns, "and you still want to date me?"

Enjolras blinks at him, looking confused. "…Yes? Is that a problem?"

Grantaire laughs, putting his coffee down on the bench beside him so he can double over himself. He's still laughing softly as he tentatively reaches for Enjolras' hand. When Enjolras' fingers close around his, Grantaire is smiling.

"Not a problem at all," he murmurs. "I'd really, really like to date you too, Red. Enjolras."

Beaming at him, Enjolras squeezes Grantaire's hand tightly. Grantaire squeezes right back, and he's smiling so hard that his cheeks are hurting. Not that he really minds.

Enjolras leans against him slightly. "Does this mean I get to see your art before you post it?"

Grinning, Grantaire leans against him in return. "You can wait until tonight, just like before."

Affecting a heavy sigh, Enjolras threads his fingers with Grantaire's. "Well, can I at least get a kiss while I wait?"

Grantaire subtly pinches himself and nope, still not dreaming. He has no idea how this is real, but he'll take it.

"Yeah," he smiles, tilting his face to the side to meet Enjolras' lips with his own. "I think so."


End file.
